Beyond and Between – Samhain and Dragons in the Mist

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Dark Times, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, fesitvals, Halloween, holidays, Month of the Dragon, Samhain, WAFDE

Month of the Dragon has come to a close. A hearty roar of appreciation to all who have participated. And a draconic welcome to all our new WAFDE members! Hope everyone had a spikey-wikey, rip-snorting time.

The harvest is in. Pumpkins – and turnips – are carved, costumes pressed, and cider spiked. All is in readiness for tonight.

Halloween. All Hallows Eve. Most Dragons prefer the ancient name, Samhain. This has always been a liminal time – a day when the misty barrier between the spiritual and the corporeal worlds thins and the inhabitants of each can come and go at will.

If you are up on your Dragon history you know this is a very special day for Dragons, especially among the Westie Weyrs. It is a solemn time of both remembrance and hope. A day to honor ancient sorrows and proffered sanctuary, ancestors lost and triumphant returns. 

shadowbeast if the frozen wastes- hibbary

I am speaking, of course, of events that date back to the Dark Times of Dragon persecution. When Dragon-slaying was not only the “sport” du jour but also the surest way for would-be heroes, saints, and princelings to claim their bona fides. The Weyrs of Europe were decimated and anti-Dragon sentiments even inched their way east along the Silk Road.

Some Dragons flew west to the New World (Trans-Atlantic Transmigration), and some stayed and fought. But most Westies chose the better part of valor, discreetly taking the Sidhe up on their offer to dwell in the Otherworld until humans regained their sanity. In short, they faded into the mists. And – Surprise! – after many centuries, things in the physical realm did improve. Yet, while some of our friends chose to return to this world, other more cautious Dragons, did not.

So it is that Samhain takes on a certain long-distance family-reunion quality, with flights between planes and all-nighter confabs. There is music and dancing and visiting old haunts. There is catching up with the grand-dragonlets and telling of tales of past lives and future dreams. Some Dragons even seek out the relatives of Dragon-friendly humans they once knew. 

It is a magical time for all concerned.But, come morning, the magic fades. The barrier between worlds returns and mist is again just mist until next year.

For now, we here at the Nest wish you all a very Happy Samhain. May your harvest be bountiful and the coming year warm with Dragon-fire and fast friends.

 

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Happy Holidays!

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Chanukah, Dragons, holidays, New Years Day, Yule

Wishing one and all very festive holidays!

Happy Chanukah!

Merry Yule!

And may we all beat the odds and have a sane & peaceful 2017.

Time, Memory, and Dragons….

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Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, Dragons for Beginners, Family, holidays, Julio Cortazar, May Sarton, Memory, Thanksgiving, Time, Time Travel, William Faulkner, Writing

The holiday season is upon us. When family gathers together to break bread, knock heads, and mark the candlelit passage of time with mulled wine before the fire.

In honor of the season and memory of sweet scents and good company, a few words from pens wiser than my own.

“But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat themselves like the verbs and adjectives in a speech, sneaking in behind the thing itself, into the pure present, making us sad or teaching us vicariously…”
― Julio Cortázar, Hopscotch

“Keep busy with survival. Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember nothing stays the same for long, not even pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.”
― May Sarton

“…I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire…I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.”
― Faulkner, The Sound & The Fury

From all of us at the Nest, wishes to you for a peaceful and memorable Thanksgiving.

Confabulation of Dragons – Scott Gustafson

Dragons in the Mist….

Tags

Chocolate, Dark Times, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragonlets, Dragons, Fairy, Ghost Dragons, Habanero Peppers, Halloween, holidays, Month of the Dragon, Pumpkins, Samhain, Sugar Rush, WAFDE

Halloween Dragons – Sixth Leaf Clover

Happy Samhain one and all!

The harvest is over and now the world tips into its darker half. It is also the Night of the Dead – when the barrier between this world and the Otherworld thins and can be crossed. Ghosts, goblins, elves, et al, walk abroad, welcomed by some, feared by others.

And then there are Dragons. For Dragons, Samhain is a time to celebrate their return to the world of humans after centuries of self-imposed exile among the Fae.

Firefly hunting in silent dragon woods – Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Dragons, of course, do nothing by halves. When they came back to us, they did it with a snort and a roar and a lively dance round Samhain baelfires. That we were having our own seasonal fun proves a bonus for all.

Of course, tonight has its somber elements, too. It is a time to feel the presence of those no longer with us, to honor their lives and their absence. Having lost so many of their kind during the Dark Times, Dragons are particularly cognizant of this. 

You should hardly be surprised if you cross paths this evening with an enchantment of ghostly Lombard Leatherwings or skeletal Kiev Shinglebacks.

If you are so blessed, do not scream or run about. Simply bow every so politely and continue on your way.

One word of caution: If any Dragonlets are among your trick-or-treaters, do be careful not to give them too much sugar. As with children, it has a tendency to make them bounce off walls and that can create obvious problems. 

One treat we’ve found to be a huge hit around the Nest is Chocolate Habanero peppers dipped in a glaze of pumpkin and Mexican chocolate. The mix of heat and just a little sweet is enjoyed by Dragons of all ages and keeps sugar-rush mayhem to a minimum.

Wishing one and all a wondrous Samhain. And to everyone at WAFDE and dracophiles the world over, our fiercest thanks for making this Fifth Month of the Dragon so memorable. May the Great Dragon smile upon you all.

Month of the Dragon Approaches…

Tags

Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, fesitvals, holidays, Month of the Dragon, October, WAFDE

The air is changing – a bit of a nip, sweet smell of windfalls. October is almost here, and that means we’re gearing up for WAFDE’s Fifth Annual Month of the Dragon!

Our calendar is open and flexible and we welcome participation both here at the Dragon’s Nest and on the WAFDE page on Facebook. The more the merrier. 

Hope you will join us for draconic discussions, stories, fun & games, and even the chance at a free signed copy of a dragon book or two….

See you all next week!

Questing Beast III: The Performing Arts – Pounding the Cultural Boards

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Cultural Literacy, Dance, Films, holidays, Movies, Music, Nureyev, PBS, Pete Seeger, Test, The Globe, Theatre

Pete Seeger

Music, theatre, movies, dance – the performing arts intersect out lives daily. We turn on the radio, catch a matinee at the local Cineplex or on TV.

The Globe Theatre

Live dance and theatre may elude many outside of metropolitan areas, but thank goodness for PBS and cable.

So…today I give you a list of 40 people. Some familiar, some less so. They are associated with

a) Dance
b) Theatre
c) Music
d) Film

Rudolph Nureyev

Mix, match, and have fun!

1. Agnes de Mille
2. Alvin Ailey
3. Bessie Smith
4. Buffy Sainte-Marie
5. Charles Mingus
6. David Gilmour
7. Feodor Chaliapin
8. Francois Truffaut
9. George Balanchine
10. George Roy Hill
11. Harold Prince
12. Jane Campion
13. Jean Rosenthal
14. Jose Limon
15. Joseph Papp
16. Julie Taymor
17. Katherine Dunham
18. Lee Strasberg
19. Louis Malle
20. Ma Rainey
    

    Charlie Chaplin behind the camera

21. Marie Petipa
22. Merce Cunningham
23. Michael Kidd
24. Milos Forman
25. Nadia Boulanger
26. Patti Smith
27. Pedro Almodovar
28. Peter Brook
29. Philidor
30. Ray Manzarek
31. Robert Altman
32. Ruth St. Denis
33. Santo Loquasto
34. Savion Glover
35. Sergei Diaghilev
36. Susan Stroman
37. Trevor Nunn
38. Tyrone Guthrie
39. Werner Herzog
40. Yehudi Menuhin

Since many of us are in the midst of chocolate bunny/matzo frenzy, I wish one and all happy holidays and will post the answers on Tuesday.

Questing Beast II: Literary Answers….

Tags

Answers. Passover, Books, Cultural Literacy, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Drama, Fiction, holidays, Playwrights, Test, Writing

Into April and still frosty here in the northeast. I think the weather gods are taking Mark Twain’s words too much to heart and passing the buck to their subordinates.

I reverently believe that the maker who made us all makes everything in New England, but the weather. I don’t know who makes that, but I think it must be raw apprentices in the weather-clerks factory who experiment and learn how, in
New England, for board and clothes, and then are promoted to make weather for countries that require a good article, and will take their custom elsewhere if they don’t get it.

But all that doesn’t keep me from providing the answers to Tuesday’s literary quiz.

Group I:

1.  Samuel Beckett               …h) Waiting for Godot
2. John Irving                       …d) The Hotel New Hampshire
3. Lillian Hellman                  …f) Little Foxes
4. Stephen R. Donaldson      …j) Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
5. Virginia Woolf                   …g) To the Lighthouse
6. Henry James                     …i) The Europeans
7. Anton Chekhov                …a) The Seagull
8. Richard Adams                 …b) Watership Down
9. Alice Walker                     …c) The Color Purple
10. E.M.Forster                       …e) Howards End

Samuel Beckett

Group II: 

1. Ursula K. Le Guin           …c) The Lathe of Heaven
2. Edward Albee                 …e) A Delicate Balance
3. Samuel Butler                …g) Erewhon
4. Wendy Wasserstein      …a) The Sisters Rosensweig
5. Carson McCullers          …h) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
6. Bertolt Brecht                …b) Mother Courage & Her Children
7. Edith Wharton                …j) House of Mirth
8. George Eliot                    …i) The Mill on the Floss
9. D.H.Lawrence                …d) The Rainbow
10. Luigi Pirandello              …f) Six Characters in Search of an Author

         Ursula K. Le Guin

Group III:

1. Thomas Middleton           …f) Women Beware Women
2. Mikhail Bulgakov             …i) The Master & the Margarita
3. Murasaki Shikibu           …h) The Tale of Genji
4. Jean Anouilh                 … d) Thieves’ Carnival
5. Flannery O’Connor       … b) Everything That Rises Must Converge
6. Michael Ondaatje           …a) The English Patient
7. Brendan Behan              …c) The Hostage
8. Isabel Allende                …j) House of the Spirits
9. Jean Racine                   …e) Phèdre
10. James Baldwin              …g) Giovanni’s Room

        Thomas Middleton

How did everyone do?

Now, tomorrow I will be cooking for our seder, so nothing new until Saturday. Then we will begin questing through the forest of the performing arts – dance, music, theatre, and film. (I know, film falls into a grey area – part visual, part performance – but I relish the grey.)

Happy Pesach.

Valentine Alternative….

Tags

fesitvals, holidays, Lupercalia, Myth and Legends, Pagan. Rome, Spring, Wolf

It is the Ides of February.

Happy Lupercalia!

A time to honor the she-wolf who cared for Romulus and Remus.

To celebrate the fading winter – we can but hope – and the fecundity of the coming spring!

So….run naked through the streets and howl to the heavens!

 

And if you want to give that special little red-haired girl a Valentine, that’s cool, too.

Happy 2015!

Tags

2015, Dragons, holidays, Light Show, New Year, Seville

Wishing everyone a very draconic 2015!

Curtains Safe for Another Year…

Tags

Chanukah, fesitvals, holidays

Hope everyone had a safe and joyful Festival of Lights.